1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to optical devices and, more specifically, the present invention relates to output couplers.
2. Background Information
The need for fast and efficient optical-based technologies is increasing as Internet data traffic growth rate is overtaking voice traffic pushing the need for fiber optical communications. Transmission of multiple optical channels over the same fiber in the dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) system provides a simple way to use the unprecedented capacity (signal bandwidth) offered by fiber optics. Commonly used optical components in the system include lasers, WDM transmitters and receivers, optical filters such as diffraction gratings, thin-film filters, fiber Bragg gratings, arrayed-waveguide gratings and optical add/drop multiplexers.
Lasers are well known devices that emit light through stimulated emission and produce coherent light beams with a frequency spectrum ranging from infrared to ultraviolet and may be used in a vast array of applications. In optical communications or networking applications, semiconductor lasers may be used to produce light or optical beams on which data or other information may be encoded and transmitted.